Better trucking safety technology through tax credits. That’s the thinking behind Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)’s newly introduced trucking legislation, which rewards fleets with five-year tax credits for 50% of the costs of safety systems.
The technologies cover collision warning/mitigation, brake-stroke monitoring, lane-departure warning, and vehicle stability systems. That list, developed with help from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, is designed to address the causes of about 60% of commercial vehicle accidents, as identified in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Large Truck Crash Causation Study.
S. 1233 bill provides caps of:
- $1500 per qualified system
- $3500 per vehicle
- $350,000 per taxable year per qualifying taxpayer.
No surprise, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2011 (S. 1233) has a fan in Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, which manufactures many of the systems the bill would promote. Also lending support: The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association and the related Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association.
The identical bill was proposed in the House of Representatives in May as H.R. 1706 by Reps. Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA).
I will keep you posted on this trucking legislation.
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